Computer output printers are usually provided with document feeding pin or spur wheels for engagement with uniformly spaced pin feed holes along opposite edges of a continuous web type document having transversely extending perforated tear lines spaced along the length of the document to permit tearing the document into individual pages. The document is fed between a print head and a platen and a printed line is formed at a printing station which is spaced some distance inside of the exit opening in the printer housing through which the continuous web document passes after the printing is applied thereto.
An individual page of the continuous web document can be removed by waiting until the printed page has moved to a position outside the housing, usually after one or more additional pages have been printed. This document removal system is not objectionable if the printer is operated in a substantially constant manner. However, this document removal system is not satisfactory if the printer is periodically operated and the printed page is needed as soon as printing is completed.
If it is desired to remove an individual page which has just been printed, it is the usual practice to feed the page to be removed until the tear line is outside the printer housing so that the document can be manually gripped below the tear line as the page is torn from the continuous document. This results in wasting a sheet of paper because the continuous web document must be advanced to a position where the next tear line is outside of the printer housing and a considerable distance beyond the printing station.
In some instances, the printer may be provided with a reverse feed arrangement so that the tear line can be advanced to a position outside of the printer housing to permit removal of a printed sheet. The document is then fed in a reverse direction and back into the printer until the tear line edge is positioned in the proper position above the printing station so that a page is not wasted. However, the provision of a forward and reverse feed arrangement adds to the cost and complexity of manufacture of the printer.